


Sanctuary

by StillBettyWhite



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: AU, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-16 05:35:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10564668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StillBettyWhite/pseuds/StillBettyWhite
Summary: All living things like having somewhere to feel at home.





	

Sehun would always transform when he was in his favorite place: the bird sanctuary.   
His normally stoic face would soften to show his true nature with a sweet smile on his face as he’d let the birds loose into the air and use the wind to play with them; gentle breezes gently pushing up into the wings for new flyers and timid birds, loop de loops and winds that would play an airy tug of war for birds that enjoyed trying to fly against the currents. 

He had a hard time bonding with humans sometimes, who could find him difficult to approach, but birds seemed to be drawn to him. He would protest when people would tease him about it, especially when they would compare him to a fairytale princess followed by the trill song of adoring birds, but he’d still practiced constricting and pushing the air in his throat around until he could coo or hoot back at each type of bird with precise accuracy in spite of it causing him a semi-permanent sore throat the first few weeks he’d worked there. 

Dealing with losing an animal was thankfully something none of them had a lot of experience with but it was still an unavoidable part of the job. Every time a bird passed away or was moved to another park, Sehun would pluck a few of their feathers and would send them on their last flight with him, letting them whirl around in the air as he tried to hide his tears. No matter how hard he tried, the tears would always come down his face as soon as he let the feathers come back down to ground.

Kyungsoo also had a subdued nature to him, but instead of blooming by looking upwards he focused downwards, working with the earth in the gardens. 

Nurturing dry, cracked dirt into something that could produce life, coaxing flowers into blooming beautifully, fretting over the plants until they were ripe with purpose. His garden was a permanent spring, always a feast for the eyes. The food he produced was always eaten with gusto, having a delicious, crisp, fresh taste to it. The medicinal herbs he grew always had fast working, soothing effects. It was as if the love he put into everything had been captured within too, giving the fruit of his labor a comforting quality.

What the public didn’t know was that locked away behind employee doors was another plant Kyungsoo would also work on when they were short on funds. He was always the first to try his samples to ensure quality, and whenever he would test this particular plant it would be so strong that he’d find it near impossible to get much work done the rest of the day. He still hadn’t lived down the time he’d been found giggling at a snail he’d nicknamed after his boyfriend Chanyeol because it was “so cute, it’s so slow and slimy and bugeyed that it’s kind of endearing, don’t you think?”

Joonmyeon was in charge of the aquatic animals. His neck would grow gills and his feet would turn webbed whenever he’d dive into the water and off he’d go, swimming with the fishes, playing with the dolphins and laughing at the antics of the octopuses, enjoying how they’d sometimes use their tentacles to playfully grip his feet to slow him down or awkwardly run across the ground.

He would sometimes startle the new fishes with his toothy smile and they’d quickly dart away, not wanting to be eaten, but he’d quickly win them back over with his warm, affable nature. It probably also helped that it was difficult to continue seeing Joonmyeon as a threat due to his general awkwardness even while submerged in water.

The other employees would sometimes call him Umma, due to some of the animals seeing him as another parental figure since he was always there to assist with any births. Unlike Sehun’s sour faces in response to being teased, he would split his face wide open with a beaming grin and shrug good naturedly. He liked knowing that the animals felt like they could rely on him. 

Xiumin had also blossomed after taking this job, previously he’d blended into the background due to constantly trying to keep his powers under control so he could keep the biting frost at bay, but now that he worked with the antarctic animals he could finally relax and let himself really focus on the world around him instead. 

His favorite were the penguins. He enjoyed the juxtaposition of their fancy, suited appearance and their awkward, clumsy gait. He’d bought a penguin costume one year and it had been a big hit at the Halloween party the employees had thrown, everyone cooing over him.

Someone had suggested he wear it for the penguins, wanting to capture their confused reactions for Youtube, but the costume was also a big hit with them and one of the penguins started trying to court him. The video went viral, which was great news for the wildlife park since it really boosted their revenue for the year (Kyungsoo, especially, had breathed a sigh of relief), but Xiumin threw the costume away and started bulking up. He claimed it was because he wanted to be in better shape so he could run around more with the polar bears. Everyone was kind enough to pretend that was the complete truth of the matter.

Jongin was in charge of transportation, wanting to save the animals the stress of long moves by simply teleporting them. This required him to be friendly with all the animals, needing to familiarize himself to them and gain their trust to ensure that transfers went smoothly. 

He’d pick a different section of the park to focus on each day and would spend every minute he could there. It was his favorite part of the job, he could be a bit timid around people but loved spending time with the animals, who seemed to sense his gentle soul and would quickly warm up to him. The excitement when he’d visit was almost palpable, a swirl of fast, chaotic movement as all of them would scramble to be the first to greet him, Jongin’s mouth wide open with happy laughter at their frantic movements, bracing himself and gleefully waiting for them to reach him. 

He tried not to play favorites with the animals but wasn’t very good at not forming attachments. But it always balanced out in the end since every time he would bring a different baby that needed extra nursing and care home with him for around the clock attention, the type of animal it was would become his new favorite, so he was never out of love to give.

Yixing was the veterinarian, who was very good at his job thanks to his healing touch. He was a bit spacey, almost not being able to get certified due to his loose grasp on academia from having his head in the clouds, but found the physical aspect of the job intuitive, and enjoyed gently nursing ill animals back to health.

Being able to see the positive transformation the animals would go through under his care made the long hours he’d put into extra tutoring sessions and the work he’d put into trying to get his brain to remain on this realm worth it. 

In a way, the animals healed him in return; they allowed him to feel useful and keep his head high in front of people who would sneer or scoff at him for not having enough energy to be able to heal people too. Some people are never satisfied, wanting you to be able to do everything, but now he could see they were the problem, not him.

The wildlife park wasn’t just a sanctuary for the animals after all, it was also a sanctuary of sorts for the employees as well, allowing their powers to be a strength and a force for good. 

Allowing both animal and human to feel at home.


End file.
